Yaeyama · Off IshigakiNo.686★★★Open in map →

Taketomi Island

— Red-tile village on white coral sand, off Ishigaki

localThe classic — done right

A small island in the Yaeyama group, a short boat ride from Ishigaki, where a whole village of red-tiled houses, coral-stone walls and crushed-coral lanes is still lived in, and kept that way by a charter the residents wrote for themselves.

FromIshigaki Port Ferry Terminal
~15 minHigh-speed ferry, 10-15 min
Get off atTaketomi East Port (high-speed ferry from Ishigaki)
From there
Taketomi Island

Directions ↗

Where it is

9 more notes in Okinawa · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

The coral lanes of the settlementYasu / CC BY-SA 3.0

Taketomi Yugafu-kanthe national park visitor centre near the pier, with displays on the island's houses, plants and festivals
The coral lanes of the settlementcrushed white coral underfoot, stacked coral walls either side, shisa figures on the red roof ridges
Nishi-sanbashi piera low concrete pier running straight out from the west shore, the island's sunset spot
Kondoi Beacha shallow white-sand bay on the west coast, the island's swimming beach
Kaiji Beachthe star-sand beach south of Kondoi, where taking the sand away is not allowed

How to actually get there

Ishigaki Port Ferry Terminal → Taketomi East Port (high-speed ferry, 10-15 min).
Taketomi East Port → the settlement (island bus, rental cycle, or on foot).
Walk the coral lanes, then head west to Nishi-sanbashi pier, Kondoi Beach and Kaiji Beach.
Back to Taketomi East Port for a boat to Ishigaki.

High-speed ferry from Ishigaki Port Ferry Terminal: Ishigaki Port Ferry Terminal →(high-speed ferry, 10-15 min)→ Taketomi East Port. Several operators run the route through the day, among them Anei Kanko, Yaeyama Kanko Ferry and Hirata Kanko. Tickets are bought at the terminal counters rather than booked to a single boat.
Return from Taketomi East Port: Boats run back to Ishigaki from the same pier through the day. Sailings finish in the evening and the timetable is posted at the port building, so check the last departure when you land if you are not staying the night.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Taketomi sits in the Yaeyama islands off the south-west coast of Ishigaki, and almost all of it is flat. The settlement in the middle of the island is built to one pattern: single-storey wooden houses under red tiles, each behind a wall of stacked coral limestone, each set back from a lane surfaced with crushed white coral. Shisa figures sit on the roof ridges. The whole settlement, not a street or a block of it, is a nationally selected preservation district. The houses are lived in rather than opened as exhibits.

How to enjoy it

The crossing is short enough that Taketomi works as a full day out rather than a quick stop. Ride the water-buffalo cart through the lanes first, then take a rental cycle west to the pier and the beaches. Most visitors leave on afternoon boats, so a later crossing, or a night on the island, puts you at Nishi-sanbashi for the sunset.

Background & history

The village keeps the plan of an Okinawan farming settlement: low houses behind coral walls, set back from lanes of crushed coral. In 1987 the whole settlement was selected as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, in the category of island farming village. The residents had moved first. In 1986 they wrote a charter for Taketomi, promising not to sell, not to soil, not to disturb and not to destroy, and to make use of what the island already had. The Tanadui seed-taking festival is still the island's largest event of the year.

Before you go

Cash: The lanes, the pier and the beaches are free to walk. The visitor centre by the port is free to enter. Ferry tickets are sold at the terminal counters on the Ishigaki side, and the island bus, the water-buffalo cart and cycle rental are each paid separately.
Good to know: Typhoons stop the ferries outright in summer and autumn, and the visitor centre closes on those days, so check sailings before committing to the crossing. Star sand may not be taken away from Kaiji Beach. The lanes are people's front doorsteps as much as scenery, and the island's own charter asks visitors not to soil or disturb the settlement.
Another way: All the Yaeyama island boats leave from the same Ishigaki terminal, so Taketomi is easy to combine with another island in one day by going back through Ishigaki rather than island to island.
After you get off: From Taketomi East Port the settlement lies inland to the west. The island bus meets arriving boats at the pier and runs to the village and the beaches; boarding anywhere other than the port needs a reservation. The island is flat, so walking or a rental cycle both work.